Transformation: Making Your Life Work

Part Two of a series of articles looking at Prison Reform

Transformation: Making Your Life Work

My name is John Valverde and I served 16 years in prison. During that time people helped me, supported me and I was able to transform every area of my life by facing my guilt honestly, owning my 100% responsibility for my wrong, and committing myself to being life-giving in all I did. As a result, I re-entered society 1 year ago a transformed person full of possibility and potential, but also a good deal of fear.

Albert Einstein said:
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘universe,’ a part in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest—a kind of delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a prison for us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

We must be compassionate to experience the truth that we are all one. How can we apply this? And how does this relate to transformation? To lead a truly transformed life and truly make your life work, you must have compassion for yourself and others. For it is not enough to make your life work—you must also assume responsibility for helping others make their lives work as well. We are all connected and our individual actions really do impact the whole.

John Heider wrote an adaptation of the Tao Te Ching that reads:

“If your life works, you influence your family. If your family works, your family influences the community. If your community works, your community influences the nation. If your nation works, your nation influences the world. If your world works, the ripple effect spreads throughout the cosmos.”

These concepts of making your life work and oneness are what transformation is all about. Just as Jesus healed the blind, we too must see with new eyes, with compassion, and see that we are all one. For it is not enough for persons to transform their lives only to return to a world that will reject them.

In December of last year I attended a 3 day self-empowerment seminar in NYC. It was the first time I stepped out of my comfort zone of family and friends since my release from prison that April. It was my intention to begin to face the world without hiding my past, because I knew the hiding was limiting my life.

On the first day, the seminar leader used several crime references like: If you don’t set boundaries for your children, you are turning them into criminals and if you don’t exercise your full potential you might as well be in prison for the rest of your life. Every such reference resulted in the chuckles, gasps, sighs of disgust and the judgment of the 170 participants. Even though no one knew me and about my past, I felt dehumanized and personally attacked. Quickly, I began to think that perhaps this was not the safest place to open up.

Then, on the morning of the second day, the seminar leader spoke about fear and how it can make a person return to prison. He said that a certain state prison system had a recidivism rate of 85% (most states are between 60 and 80 percent). He explained that was the rate at which people committed new crimes after being released from prison. 8.5 out of every 10 people were coming back to prison. This resulted in more chuckles, gasps, sighs of disgust and judgment from the audience. In an effort to address this problem, the organization running the seminar was asked to go into the prison system to find out why it was happening. Asking people who had returned to prison WHY they had returned, over and over they heard: I WAS MORE AFRAID OF PEOPLE IN SOCIETY THAN I WAS OF BEING IN PRISON. The seminar leader then made a joke. He said, “Of course! Three meals a day, a place to sleep, no bills and they even get conjugal visits from time to time.” More chuckles, gasps, sighs of disgust and judgment… And I felt like the lowest person on earth.

But it also triggered something in me to stand up and represent that there are many people in prison who have dedicated themselves to making their lives work. Call it God’s nudge, or courage, or perhaps foolishness, but I felt the need to speak. So when the seminar leader asked people to come up to the microphone to complete the sentence: I AM AFRAID OF…

I stood up. People before me finished the sentence by saying they were afraid of their boss, failure and smoking. Then I got up to the microphone and said, “I am afraid of all of you.”

“I am afraid that you will judge me, fear me, reject me and even hate me if you know my past.” I was amazed, as people started to break down in tears. It was a room full of successful professionals and they apparently also had a fear of rejection. I then shared my story of what had happened to me all those years ago and my remorse for it and asked the 170 people there to have compassion, give me a chance and help me make my life work because I did not want to live in fear of society’s judgment anymore.

I feel blessed to share that the response I received was overwhelmingly positive with people sharing their own dark pasts and fears and their desire for compassion and forgiveness. Others told me that they had often considered volunteering in a prison and that now they would. Even a former prosecutor from the Bronx asked me to help her start an organization that would help men and women recently released from prison find jobs. My life has changed completely since that day because I shared my transformation and commitment to making my life work and asked others to support me.

Because as usual, God says it best, I was inspired to put together the following adaptation from three Bible readings:
If people repent with all their heart and soul, grant them compassion, forgiveness and support. 1 Kings 8.46-53 For God has called us to love one another as God loves us and help each other bear fruit—fruit that will last. John 15.7-17 So do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds and see that we are all one. Romans 12.1-12.8

My name is John Valverde. I served 16 years in prison. I have transformed my life and am committed to making my life work. I did not reach this point alone. Please remember that we are all one and we are all called to make our lives work and help others do the same. By doing so, we can make our world work and the ripple effect will spread throughout the cosmos.

Prison Reform

Christ talked of the poor, the imprisoned, and the oppressed among those disenfranchised from the “kingdom of this world.” As Christians, we are called to see the face of Christ in all we meet, to strive for justice in the command of the prophet Micah, and to be disciples of change for those least able to advocate for themselves.


The United States had 5% of the world’s total population, yet 25% of the world’s incarcerated population. Today, one out of every 99 Americans is in a state or federal penitentiary; tragically, we have a greater percentage of our population jailed (disproportionately greater among persons of color) than any nation on earth. The cost of $37,000 per year to incarcerate a person, the devastating impact to children of the incarcerated, and the inevitable parole of inmates and high rate of recidivism (average 66%) calls us to witness as to the need to transform our penal institutions.


Below, you will hear voices, who speak of that need from personal experience, trauma or concern.


Voices:
“Welcome Back, to that Same Old Place that You Laughed About – John Sebastian”
An article by Evan Missula, a former Employee of Exodus Transitional Community, a prison reentry program, which is located in Spanish Harlem, New York City.


Transformation: Making Your Life Work
An article by John Valverde


Links of interest:
TAPPED BLOG: “THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT OF 2009″
The Group Blog of the American Prospect (www.prospect.org)

“Welcome Back, to that Same Old Place that You Laughed About – John Sebastian”

Part One of a series of articles looking at Prison Reform

“Welcome Back, to that Same Old Place that You Laughed About – John Sebastian”
After having been convicted of 1 count of mail fraud, I left prison three times. On May 29, 2008, I left the Satellite Camp at Otisville; On July 17, 2008, I signed out of the Brooklyn Federal Halfway House; and on November 1, 2008, at the direction of my PO I cut the band on my electronic monitoring device. Each time I resolved to communicate to the world what was so very wrong with the system I saw operating behind those gates and to work hard to fix it. For what it is worth, it was the first time in my life I was on a mission not for personal success but to change the world. One obvious contradiction, is that I am gearing up to tell you, the reader, how barbaric, wasteful and cruel, I think the American Penal System has become while at the same time admitting that I learned (and in many ways gained) a tremendous amount from the experience.

Crime, Conviction, Prosecution and Imprisonment are all fundamentally about failure. For me it was a failure to be able to support a wife and three children. In 2000, my income and my assets took a precipitous fall. I had not attended to and did not value a support network. I was not involved in my community. Charity work was for ladies who lunch and donations for showoffs at Black Tie events. I drifted from my friends. Between work and family, I just could not find time. For myself and many Urban Professionals, my self worth was my work and checkbook. When that evaporated, so did my self esteem and happiness. I desperately tried to hang on to my lifestyle and a chance to recapture my wealth. I stole money from a partnership, I controlled. I wanted to pay it back but I was not authorized under the terms of the Partnership to do what I did.

Needless to say, like many others, I was caught. I lost my home, wife, children and went to Prison. I happened at a glacial, excruciating pace. I went to live with my parents. I began seeing a psychologist at SUNY Stony Brook. (It was free). I needed to prepare for my incarceration. I was scared. How was prison going to change me? Would I be safe? What could I do for the people I let down? What was I going to do with the rest of my life? I resolved to study and get healthy. I love math and I had too long comforted my feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness with food.

My parents drove me to prison on January 9, 2007. I mailed five books (all math and physics) to myself from the post office at Otisville. I was given the standard issue cavity search. There is no way to have this done and maintain any dignity. I was not allowed to bring in legal papers that I should have been allowed to bring in. You learn quickly that many in the administration want to create the illusion that they are bound by no rules at all. You are told repeatedly that you are property and that you have no rights. I can not count the number of times in the first week, “You go in alone, and you come out alone.” It was January and the average temperature was in the teens. I was given only boat shoes. They are the consistency of hotel slippers in January in the Adirondacks. I was in constant pain from a childhood lawnmower injury to my foot. I was given no blanket and just a cotton sheet. I had no toothpaste, no razor, and no shampoo. A guard came by to rattle the cell I was filling out paperwork in. It was designed to be as terrifying as possible.

I went to the camp and started to meet my fellow inmates. They were largely poor, uneducated and guilty of supplying the same drugs (marijuana and cocaine) that I knew that the police, prosecutors and judges had used in college, if not now. I say this as someone who has never used any of it. I was lucky enough to be appointed the GED “teacher.” There was no full time education staff for “the Camp.” I was horrified that grown men could not add, subtract, multiply and divide, or for that matter read (in either English or Spanish). As my terror began to diminish and I took greater notice of my surroundings, I saw that most of the time was spent by inmates playing cards or watching TV. There was no functioning library. No computers or access to the internet. All post secondary education had ended on 1995 with the passage of the Zimmer Amendment.

We were limited to five books and depending on which guard was enforcing the rules no where to read them. The baffling conditions resulted from a fundamental assumption that we were unredeemable. In her excellent book, Cruel and Unusual: The Culture of Punishment in America, Dr. Anne-Marie Cusac, explains that this debate over what to do with prisoners is old as the prison system itself. I was not aware of her book then, or the large body of work that many authors had done on the prison system, including Todd Clear, Jeremy Travis, Margret Leland Smith, Dan Nagin, Alfred Blumstien, Jeff Mellow, John Rawls and Michael Picault and many others of which I am still ignorant.

I just could not stand the idea of wasting so much time and money. I organized a tutoring program and classes. I did what I could to humanize the place. I tutored anyone who was interested in Mathematics and Reading. I never felt that I was unredeemable and I don’t believe that most of the people I served with were either. I could not believe both the casual cruelty and corruption that many, not all, of the guards and administration displayed. One of my students, Steven Dejesus, a diabetic, was killed by medical neglect. We were told that we could never “associate” with each other again or we would be incarcerated for violating the terms of our Supervised Release (The Federal Version of Parole).

Well after a few false starts, I am already at double the length of the essay I was asked for, I made it to Exodus. I found a community of formerly incarcerated individuals trying to make their way back. I was better educated but now poorer than most. They helped me get clothes and a job. They connected me with volunteer opportunities. I found ways to get involved politically. I am involved with the Prison Education Initiative, the Drop the Rock Campaign, The Coalition for Fair Criminal Justice Policies, The Prison Action Network, the National Action Network and the Abyssinian Baptist Church Prisoner Life Coaching Project. I later took a job with Exodus as a job developer helping to connect other formerly incarcerated individuals with employment. I was able to get a second job as a Research Assistant and Statistics Tutor at CUNY John Jay. I have helped over 40 ex-offenders get jobs during this economic crisis.

In April, I was accepted to the PhD program in Criminal Justice at CUNY John Jay. I want to expand the opportunities for people to regain their lives and reserve prison for only the most dangerous amongst us. The criminal justice system offers society an opportunity to interrupt anti-social and self-destructive behavior. We can do that without being cruel. If we are smart, we can also save a tremendous number of lives and a fortune of money.

- Evan Missula

The Episcopal Church and Domestic Poverty Alleviation

The Presiding Bishop’s Summit on Domestic Povertry

Faith in the Balance: A Call to Action  (February 2009)

Rev. Christopher A. Johnson
Program Officer, Domestic Justice and Jubilee Ministries

 
“How can we help to break the cycle of poverty? How can we become a place of refuge and healing for the most vulnerable members of our society? How might we be a prophetic voice for those who find themselves stuck in dead-end situations? 

 These are questions Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori challenged participants to address while attending the Summit on Domestic Poverty held at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, in May 2008.”

Download: Faith in the Balance: A Call to Action (Report 02/18/2009)

Interfaith Community Organization & Honeywell in New Jersey

The Gospel of Jesus challenges the Church to be engaged in the work of transfiguration and transformation in the world. The Church fulfills this in the work of public ministry. Public ministry can take a variety of forms but one of the most powerful is to join in the effort of a Broad Based Community Organizing Project in your local area.  All Saints Episcopal Parish in Hoboken, NJ has been a member of an Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) organization, the Interfaith Community Organization (ICO) since 1986, and of a Gamalial Organization, the Jubilee Interfaith Organization (JIO) since 1998.

I have come to understand that transfiguration occurs as people often see for the first time the power of the Spirit that calls them into action and will change their local community.

Broad Based Community Organizing seeks to identify and train leaders within the local congregation to organize for change in the world around them out of their own self interest.  What is the congregation they would like, what is the neighborhood they would like?  By connecting people to their self-interest we discover values that are important to us that either our congregation or our neighborhood is not acting upon. 

For example people gather to discuss issues in their situation.  These issues are usually explained through a story that has occurred and expose the value. In 1986 one of the major issues facing our neighborhoods was the drug trafficking that was going on around our local schools.  Parents could not let their children go to school unaccompanied for fear of the implications of passing a drug transaction.  Through our efforts in engaging the State’s Attorney General’s Office and local Police we established Drug Free School Zones which moved the drug trafficking to a perimeter outside of the local school.  So as people talked about the value of safety and security in their neighborhoods they organized to take actions that would change their neighborhood.  These people where transfigured as they practiced the exercise of their power to bring about change. 

As people become engaged in this work trust is built across a coalition of congregations who are now prepared to support one another in public action where the issues become connected to larger areas of concern.  In the late 1980’s the need for more affordable housing was an issue for all of the local congregations.  Through training and organizing we came to understand the complexity of why affordable housing is so difficult for government to create.  Rather than going the route of creating so called affordable housing that was rental and subsidized IAF had a plan that created owner occupied affordable housing, the Nehemiah Project. To build this type of housing however required access to land.  In negotiating with the city we were given land that we soon discovered was contaminated.  After careful study we realized that to clean up this land before we could build on it no longer made the housing affordable.  Rather than giving up we delved deeper into the issue of contaminated land in Jersey City and Hudson County. 

This led ICO into a much larger and much longer struggle to transform Jersey City from the abuses of its industrial past which were now limiting the city’s ability to use certain tracts of land.  The story is that three major producers of chromium resided in Jersey City at three different mother sites.  The waste that results from this process had been distributed widely throughout Jersey City and Hudson County as land fill.  As ICO continued to look at other sites for vacant land that could be used for the creation of housing it became clear that many of the vacant sites had chromium waste on them.  We now had a wide spread problem throughout several neighborhoods in Jersey City.  People discovered that they were living in neighborhoods were the waste had been used as landfill.  We also began to hear stories of high cancer rates in certain neighborhoods that went well beyond normal.  Families who had grown tomato plants in their back yards were also telling stories about the high cancer rate running through their family. What were the causes of this cancer rate?  

Our struggle to clean up the land took an interesting diversion as we learned that the State Department of Environmental Protection was in the process of changing the regulations in regards to clean up to make it easier for the large corporations responsible for the waste to either leave the land dormant and passive or to put a cap on it for commercial use that would only be a short term solution for a long term problem. There was already evidence mounting that capping a site did not secure the site and that caps were heaving over time.  As a result of our findings we realized that both the State and Local government were not going to address our concerns for clean and usable land for residential construction, health studies to assess potential implications in local neighborhoods, and concerns about governments failure to address clean up regulations. It was clear to us that big developers were controlling the effects of their predecessors. 

As a result we sought out an environmental law firm that would be willing to take on our case in the Federal Courts because it was clear that neither state nor local government would protect these low income urban neighborhoods, interestingly nor would one environmental law firm in our State touch the case.  However a Washington, D.C. environmental law firm was very interested in our case.  So we chose a very large chromium contaminated site on Route 440 that was the responsibility of the Honeywell Corporation. For a decade we participated in a long legal process that saw Honeywell repeatedly trying to circumvent the process and find a short cut around their responsibility. However after a significant period the Judge in the Third District Federal Court where the case was being heard ruled that Honeywell would have to clean up the site. In a $440 million dollar judgment the court ruled that Honeywell would have to fully clean up the site to residential standards which in the court’s view meant completely excavating the site and putting in clean land. 

This is a striking victory for the people of Jersey City, Hudson County and our Nation and sets precedents that could have a long lasting effect.  People who could not imagine the possibility have been transfigured and communities that have suffered under the weight of the remnants of the former industrial waste will be transformed.  It is only by joining together for the long haul in networks, that Broad Based Community Organizing builds, that people within our congregations and our neighborhoods can and will bring change. Transfiguration and transformation in the public domain, restoring our ability to participate as citizens, and to repair and restore the breaches this is what is the vision of the Gospel of Jesus.  Let the digging begin, as it will April 2006.

G.Curtiss

Church in Metropolitan Areas

The Church in Metropolitan Areas began as a network of 40 urban clergy committed to meeting twice a year. Our mission is the transformation of people to live into the fullness and wholeness of their lives; to reclaim the prophetic role of the Church in the metropolitan areas of our country; to commit ourselves to the radical nature of the Gospel; and to be engaged in issues of justice and mercy in the urban context; to be practice flexibility with the moveable table of God open and inclusive (from Ezekiel) and to be the heart of Jesus in the heart of the city (from Jeremiah); to commit ourselves to overcoming the structures of poverty; to meet twice a year for reflection and support; and to strengthen the work of the Church in metropolitan areas.

At our first meeting in May 2005 we were reminded “building inclusive cities mean building economically sustainable, environmentally safe cities, where citizens are able to access employment, rely on social networks, and express their political will. As shown through the growth of civil society, a vast reservoir of political energy exists among urban residents today. “The true challenge to the future of democracy and to improving the quality of life for all those who live in cities, is whether or not that potential can be channeled in a productive, organized, and democratic matter.” (1) Several of the issues and questions that we as urban clergy want to discuss are the results of our cities changing from industrial to informational centers, the impact of urbanization and globalization on our communities, the new religious and ethnic diversity in our cities, the costs of doing ministry under pressure, the transitional nature of our cities as a result of regeneration and gentrification, the question of governance, how do you undertake grass roots organizing, partnerships and participate in community development, and what is the role of the faith community in our civil society in this secular world?

A recent gathering of The Church in Metropolitan Areas discussied the influence of globalization and urbanization. We are committed ourselves to promoting urban mission and ministry within our judicatories. We seek to sustain mediating instituions in our metro areas that have the capacity to speak with authority about poverty, social exclusion and public policy. Our interest is to promote theological reflection, social analysis and appropriate action on questions of urban policy, poverty and social exclusion.  We intend to work within the public, private and volunteer sectors of our society. We are concerned to support, to find, to encourage and to promote innovative models of church engagement and prophetic action in metropolitan areas. We are prepared to produce materials that explain our work, interpret this work to the suburban and rural church and will report to the larger Church when requested.

A recent gathering of The Church in Metropolitan Areas network included Drs. Edmond DeSueza and Judith Jones leading us in a biblical study and reflection on the Book of Daniel. Daniel is advocating for humanity. Rising out of the historical moment (crisis) to disclose what is going on. Daniel advocates for humanity to transcend itself and become in its final manifestation that part of the creation that is able to replicate the presence of God by becoming a spirit-filled life-giving spirit. Mike Gecan presented his paper on “Taking Faith Seriously” and discussed the organizing techniques of the Industrial Areas Foundation. He challenged us to see that the progressive agenda needs to examine why George Bush and Joel Osteen – those on the right and fundamentalists speak something that resonates with millions of Americans, unlike the elite progressives, it is a rugged religious individualism of the market economy. The marketing of the “Army of One” is an extension of this economic individualism except we all know that in the army one must rely totally on my platoon buddies. We discussed the difference between Jesus preaching to the crowds which seems to be the role of the mega-churches and Jesus taking aside the disciples to teach and push them into action which we found to be more in keeping with our role and work.

At the heart of the Network is a recognition of the need to connect and resource those engaged in urban ministry and mission, and to use the openings available to raise these issues in the larger Church. The Anglican Urban Network has published Impact of the Global: An Urban Theology by Bishop Laurie Green, a short introduction to some of the issues facing cities and urban churches in an ear of globalization. This publication is available through Geoff Curtiss geoff@metrochurchblog.org

Addressing Urbanisation – A Way Forward for the Anglican Communion

The Report on the Visit of representatives of the Urban Bishops’ Panel of the Church of England to New York, September 2000

 
Background

As an outcome of the 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution on Urban Globalisation¹, the Bishop of New York, the Rt Revd. Richard Grein, invited three members² of the Urban Bishops’ Panel (UBP) to visit New York and the United Nations in order to explore issues of funding, models of networking, and relations with United Nations programmes, all with reference to that Resolution. 

The Anglican Consultative Council had already affirmed the intention of the Lambeth Resolution by agreeing³ to the setting up of an international Programme designed to identify and develop urban resources across the Anglican Communion, and within this Programme it is intended to establish a global Anglican Network so that specialists, theologians and missioners from each Province can share their stories, insights and expertise one with another in an inter-disciplinary manner.  It is hoped that the outcome of these endeavours might be an Anglican Commission on ‘Christian Presence and Witness in an Urbanising World’.
 

Meeting the Urban Church
 
In New York the group visited the Episcopal Church Centre to meet relevant staff and learn about the Jubilee Ministries programme⁴.  The importance of non-hierarchical networking, and empowerment and training for mission in local congregations were affirmed. Long-term engagement rather than short-term fixes was deemed crucial. 

Meetings in Harlem and the South Bronx with key practitioners provided examples of where the subjugation of personal egos had led to teamwork and effective neighbourhood renewal of the first order. Already the most significant local presence in these communities, the Churches were working together to inculcate a fresh sense of identity and belonging⁵.  The way in which each of their campaigns against drug abuse, armed assault and inadequate housing had to be carefully coordinated reinforced appreciation of how simultaneous local action and global thinking are today  essential. 

The dire housing conditions of this part of New York contrasted sharply with the luxurious development of Hoboken and  the lower West-side of Manhattan which the visiting group viewed from New Jersey.

International financiers are changing the shape of urban life through de-industrialisation and development, whilst ‘edge cities’ are emerging in the New York region.  The Church is having to adjust to these new phenomena which are now being reproduced around the globe.  

Before embarking on the second phase of the visit the group were inspired to hear the news that the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the USA had recently endorsed the Lambeth Resolution on Global Urbanisation and lent their weight to the giving of “urgent attention” to the issues and the formation of an Anglican Network and Project in preparation for a Commission on faith in an urban world.

The visiting group received such affirmation of the proposals as to be quite overwhelming, and this affirmation was to be replicated by the United Nations personnel which it then went on to meet.

United Nations interest

The group was first welcomed by the UN Director of the Division for Sustainable Energy and Environment⁶ who reinforced awareness of how interdependent is the relationship between the rural and the urban.

Quite clearly, the environment is no longer the concern only of the wealthy as the ‘footprint’ of  ever-more demanding cities presses hard upon the whole planet.  The collapse of vulnerably positioned poor housing, the spread of water-born disease, and the new awareness of ‘sustainability’ as ‘quality’ gives rise to an increasing openness by the powers that be, not least the UN itself, to partnership with many other NGOs and particularly the faith communities.  The group became aware just how timely this Anglican initiative is as it was spelt out to them that no longer can international decisions be made on a cost-analysis basis alone, but the moral and ethical dimension must now be stressed and acted upon.  The UN at the highest level welcomes this initiative by the Anglican Communion and hopes that other faith communities will follow this lead.  They clearly need and welcome the moral arguments being rehearsed. 
 
The UN Director of the Division of Social Policy and Development⁷, recently returned from organising the Geneva UN conference on poverty issues, underscored how important it is to the UN and to global wellbeing that we Network wherever possible so that we act in concert to address the issues which are overwhelming the vast majority of the world‘s population now living in urban environments.  He felt that the establishment of a political will is of the essence in eradicating world urban poverty and welcomed the inclusion of the Anglican Communion in that endeavour, recognising that the Communion is often well-placed to have political influence around the world.  He promised the support of the UN statistical division in our work.  There was a recognition of the importance of the work of the International Labour Organisation in learning to understand the significance of the informal sector in urban employment issues around the globe.

With the interim Anglican Communion UN Observer, Bishop Herbert Donovan and his colleague Canon Jeff Golliher, the group had a valuable private meeting with Mr. Nitan Desai, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. 

Mr Desai saw the Communion as offering precisely what the Secretary General, Mr Kofi Anan, is at present welcoming – a clear moral voice from a faith perspective, based upon real and committed experience of the urban.  

He cited many UN programmes, e.g. on HIV/AIDS, slum enhancement, saving street children,  where this perspective and experience could be crucial for the future.  Our theological commitment to a concern for human rights and care for the creation, along with our holistic emphasis and our physical presence alongside and as the urban poor could assist the moral well-being of the city as well as its physical regeneration.  Mr Desai felt our intervention to be timely and welcome. 
 
The group then met with the UN ‘Habitat’ programme8 (UN Centre for Human Settlements) who have a particular concern for the impact of urbanisation upon the world and the need for adequate shelter and good urban governance.  The inevitability of global urbanisation was substantiated by statistical trends and the UN were now committed to address this issue in partnership with Non-Governmental Organisations and the Civil Society.  The Communion must be represented, the group were told, at Habitat’s  major international conferences on these urban issues where determinative decisions were made, and especially at the summit conference ‘Habitat + 5’ where their ongoing programme would be further developed.  The UN were working with the World Bank on its ‘Cities without Slums’ campaign and the commitment of the faith communities would be essential in this endeavour.  The Anglican Communion would bring its local and regional presence and experience in both the developed and developing world as it collaborates with the UN in initiatives on secure tenure and urban governance.

 
Sharing the Vision

Finally, the visiting group were invited to report on the week’s visit at the Cathedral Eucharist so that the Christian community at large were able to hear of what had been accomplished.  The visiting group wishes to record it gratitude for the support it received from Bishops Grein and Donovan in enabling the visit and thereby helping to develop their proposals which will be discussed with the ACC standing committee in October 2000. 

The planning group has recently published The Impact of the Global: An Urban Theology by Bishop Laurie Green. The booklet explores a theological response to the twin phenomena of urbanisation and globalisation and was welcomed by the New York hosts as a helpful tool in alerting people around the Communion to the Programme.  

Some Conclusions:
 

1. The Project initiators are greatly encouraged by the response it has thus far received from around the world and now by UN, ECUSA, and many local urban ministers. The connections now made has already increased the scope of the growing Network. The Anglican Communion seems to be the first faith community to approach the UN on these issues and our overtures are more than welcome and timely.
2. There is clearly a wave of new thinking in the UN concerning the potential of faith communities and NGOs  to deliver value-based work in the poorest urban communities.  The Communion’s work promises to be Good News for the urban poor across the globe through their presence, witness and social ministries in these communities.
3. The Anglican Urban Network must be non-hierarchical and from now on must be independent of the Urban Bishop’s Panel of the Church of England.  It’s programmes must be rooted in the local whilst serving our communities globally and ecumenically.  It must bring together people at all levels and from many disciplines, but must have a theological and missional heart.
4. The new issues which globalisation is forcing upon the urban creates new situations which require new responses and hence new forms of urban mission training.  We are already being asked from around the world to coordinate a response to this need.
5. The next stage in our process must be the establishment of sufficient administrative capacity to deal with responses to the request to each Province for its delegates to the project, from which the core steering group will be formed.
   The Communion will then be informed, through Anglican World and Bishop Laurie Green’s booklet, of the issues and the Programme so that the Network can grow.  It is essential that the Network and Steering Group should send, in June 2001, an Anglican delegation to the Habitat+5 World Summit on these issues, and also work with the Anglican UN Office in New York and our own ACC and Anglican Communion Office.  The delegation can be serviced and briefed by Dr Davey and Canon Golliher.
6. We have a concern that to facilitate all the work which these global contacts and requests are eliciting now requires constant research-updating and administrative capacity.  Our current co-ordinator, Dr Andrew Davey, is doing this very well but this is in addition to his already large portfolio of work for the Church of England.  This question must be addressed immediately if this international Urban Programme for the Anglican Communion is to respond to the time-scale within which we must work.

Bishop Laurie Green.
Bishop of Bradwell, England.
September 2000.